Display package for article of cutlery



diam. W70 E. c. PECK Y PACKAGE FOR ARTICLE OF CUTLER! DISPLA Filed Sept. 30, 1968 Attorney InvenTor Edwm C. Peck By} V l United States Patent 3,487,922 DISPLAY PACKAGE FOR ARTICLE OF CUTLERY Edwin C. Peck, Roselle, Ill., assignor to American Home Products Corporation, New York, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware Filed Sept. 30, 1968, Ser. No. 763,523 Int. Cl. B65d 73/00, /50

U.S. Cl. 206-80 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to an improved display package for an article of cutlery such as a knife or the like.

It is an object of this invention to provide a display unit upon which a knife or the like may be firmly retained by unique locking means.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a display unit which is light in weight yet strong and rigid and capable of withstanding necessary service to which it may be subjected in use, either in shipping or in showing the article of cutlery which it is designed to display.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications as fall within the spirit of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a display package in accordance with the present invention, showing the same as it is used in exhibiting a knife.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.

FIG .3 is a sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line -4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 55 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a reduced plan view of an extended blank forming the display package shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 inclusive.

An article of cutlery exemplifying an item of merchandise with which a display unit according to this invention is especially applicable is shown in the form of a knife having a generally flat blade 10 and a handle 11 secured to and forming a longitudinal extension of said blade. A shoulder 12 is defined by the handle 11 at its juncture with the exposed portion of the blade 10.

A prepared blank of paperboard material of strength and texture suitable for the production of a display unit representing one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, comprises a rear panel 13, a front panel 14, joined along one edge of a hinge line 15. A flap 16 is joined along the opposite edge of front panel 14 by a hinge line 17 about which the flap 16 is bendable into overlapping relation to an underlying surface of rear panel 13 for attachment thereto by a suitable adhesive or other fastening means to establish a fixed connection between the flap 16 and the surface of rear panel 13 overlapped thereby.

The area of the front panel 14 directly opposite the rear panel 13 is provided with a display opening having opposite edge portions 18 and 19 spaced apart lengthwise of the hinge lines 15 and 17.

A spacer tab 20 having a hinge line coincident with the edge 18 of said display opening is bendable rearwardly for interlocking engagement with a slot 21 in the rear panel 13 so as to form a seat between the panels 13 and 14 along the edge 18 of the display opening. The distance between the seat thus formed by the spacer tab 20 and the opposite edge 19 of the display opening is established so as to match the longitudinal dimension of the handle 11 of the article of cutlery with which the display unit is operatively associated. Thus as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the handle 11 of a cutlery article has its butt end in engagement with the seat 20 While the shoulder 12 defined by the bladeward end of the handle engages the opposite edge 19 of the display opening. Such interengagement of the handle 11 with the opposite edge portions of the display opening is operative to trap the article of cutlery against movement relative to the panel 14 in direction extending lengthwise of the longitudinal axis of the article of cutlery. While the edges of the display opening thus operate to establish the position of the handle relative to the panel 14, the blade 10 of the knife is received in a sheath 22 secured to the area of the panel 14 facing the blade 10 of the cutlery article. The sheath 22 is open at the end facing the shoulder 12 as well as at the opposite end and is of such length that the blade 10 is totally confined between said open ends of the sheath. A tab 24 hingedly articulated to the panel 14 along a line coincident with the edge 19 of the display opening is back folded for insertion into the open end of the sheath 22 facing toward the display opening. A second tab 25 sheared from the front panel 14 and extending into the other open end of the sheath 22, in cooperation with the tab 24, is operative to securely fasten the sheath 22 in position against the panel 14 while permitting the sheath 22 to accept the blade 10 of the cutlery article.

The sheath 22 may be formed as an extruded tube of transparent thermoplastic material such as cellulose acetate or butyrate so as to provide desired visibility of the blade contained therein. However, a sheath of other material such as paper, or paper laminated foil, or opaque thermoplastic material may be substituted when such visibility of the blade is not required. The cross-sectional contour of the sheath 22, as shown in the drawing, is also preferably so correlated to the dimension of the blade contained therein as to establish a snug fit between the inner surface of the front wall of the sheath 22 and the front surface of the tabs 24 and 25, and the faces of the blade opposite thereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A display package for an article of cutlery such as a knife or the like having a generally fiat blade and a handle attached to and forming a longitudinal extension of said blade as well as a shoulder at the junction of said handle and blade, said package including a blade receiving sheath having an opening at opposite ends thereof, a panel of cardboard or the like having a handle display opening and a sheath supporting area outside the confines of said handle display opening, said latter area and said handle display opening having a common boundary line, fastening means for removably securing said sheath against said sheath supporting area while permitting said sheath to accept the blade of a knife therein while the handle thereof occupies said handle display opening, said fastening means including a first tab hingedly articulated to said panel along said common boundary line between the sheath supporting area and said handle display opening and back folded for insertion into one open end of said sheath, and a second tab sheared from said sheath supporting area of the panel and extending into the other open end of said sheath, said common boundary line between said sheath supporting area and said handle display opening providing an abutment with which the bladeward end of the handle has engagement while said handle occupies said handle display opening and said blade associated therewith is confined in said sheath.

2. A display package according to claim 1 wherein a second panel is secured in rearward relation to said first named panel so as to occupy a position opposite said handle display opening.

3. A display package according to claim 1 wherein said sheath is of transparent thermoplastic material.

4. A display package according to claim 1, wherein a seat along the edge of the handle display opening opposite the edge of said opening defining said abutment engaged by the bladeward end of the handle provides a surface with which the butt end of the handle within said display opening has engagement to prevent unintentional Withdrawal of said.=hand1e from an installed position within said handle display opening.

5. A display package according to claim 4 wherein a I second panel is secured in rearward relation. to said first References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,857,231 5/1932 Allen 20645.14 2,119,343 5/1938 Myers 206-80 2,831,573 4/1958 Chermayeff 20680 3,130,834 4/1964 Korzaan 206--80 3,278,020 10/ 1966 Murphy 206-80 20 WILLIAM T. DIXSON, 111., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

